House Hacking Duplex

[Tom Mickley]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $88,600
Cash invested: $30,000

Duplex. Purchased to live and renovate one side and rent out the other side. The unit on the other side has been fully rented for 3+ years. The unit is ready to be rented or Airbnb for the side I currently live in.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Passive income

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My father tried to purchase the vacant property several years prior. The owner at the time turned his offer down. The seller is in his upper 70s and finally willing to let go of the property. I purchased it for the same price my father offered two years prior.

No realtors involved. Relatively easy process had the previous owner not been immobile.

How did you finance this deal?

20% down and conventional loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Both Units - New roof, electric panels, windows, lava rock landscaping and small patio in fenced in back yard.

Side I'm living in: New vinyl plank floor thru out, new LED cans in living room, every room painted, added wainscoting in living room (overkill), Ecobee T-stat w/ built in Alexa (free 4 being in the industry), fully rebuilt kitchen w/ added garbage disposal, dishwasher, new refrigerator, new wall mount microwave, new stove, all new cabinets and counters etc. Bathroom remodel as well

What was the outcome?

Great rental in a great location with good, long term tenant. One unit covered the mortgage and all utilities. I'm able to live here for free now.

I am now able to take a heloc on the property from the reappraised value from added the above mentioned upgrades. The side I'm living in is ready to rent so I can move on to the next investment.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't try to do everything yourself. That took me 3x time longer than needed. I've learned that it is easy to house hack if you live by yourself. However, it is very difficult to house hack with small living space and a live-in girlfriend with a large, semi destructive dog (I wouldn't change the dog part though :)…)

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Realtors - Dean Mickley and Jonathan Burris. Both great.

Lenders - Diana Hepner (loan broker), Sofi (hard money loan) and US Bank (heloc)